India vs Australia 5th ODI- It was a Really Good Team Performance Says Usman Khawaja

Mar 13, 2019 at 9:32 PM

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India vs Australia 5th ODI- It was a Really Good Team Performance Says Usman Khawaja

Visitors Australia produced another exceptional display as they won the 5 match series against India after completing a sensational 35 runs victory. Usman Khawaja scored yet another match-winning century and helped them post a competitive score of 272. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals which never really allowed them to be in a match-winning position. Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept the home team in the match. However, the target proved to be way too much in the end as Australia won by 35 runs.

Usman Khawaja scores 2nd ODI century

It was Australia skipper Aaron Finch who won the toss and opted to bat. Both captains wanted to bat but it was Finch who decided to bat. Openers Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch walked out in the middle to begin proceedings. Khawaja who came into the match on the back of a match-winning century and 90 continued his rich vein of form as he went onto score his 2nd ODI century and also the 2nd of the series.

The opening duo shared a 76 runs stand before Ravindra Jadeja gave India their maiden dismissal in the form of Finch’s wicket. It was a peach of a delivery which pitched on the middle and leg and turned just enough to take the top of the off stump. From there on it was Khawaja and Peter Handscomb who played brilliantly and took Australia to a dominating position.

Usman Khawaja, Adam Zampa, India vs Australia 2019
Usman Khawaja, Adam Zampa won the series decider for Australia at Feroz Shah Kotla. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Handscomb went onto score yet another half-century and shared a 99 runs stand with Khawaja. The southpaw kept scoring patiently and looked in ominous touch from the outset. He was dismissed soon after scoring his century. It was a great comeback from the Indian bowlers as the Australian batters couldn’t quite make full use of the good start he got.

The India pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah did a terrific job towards the fag end of the innings and restricted the Australian batters quite efficiently. It was a late cameo by Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins which eventually propelled Australia to a competitive score of 272 runs in their allotted 50 overs.

Australia bowlers come out on top

In a series decider, runs on the board were always going to put pressure on India and they felt it from the word go. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma began with a few classy shots. However, the home team lost Dhawan in the 5th over which put them in the backfoot. Captain Virat Kohli also looked in great touch during his brief stay but was dismissed by Marcus Stoinis.

Rohit Sharma played the anchor’s role to perfection and scored a good half-century. However soon after making a fifty, he was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell. He came down the track and missed it altogether. Alex Carey whipped off the bails in a flash. Wickets kept fell in a heap for India as they lost Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja in quick succession.

India, India vs Australia 2019, Usman Khawaja
Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept the home team in the game for a long period of time. Getty Images

However, the hopes were kept alive by Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The duo batted sensibly and found the gaps in important junctures to keep India in the match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in particular, batted superbly for his knock of 46 of 54 deliveries. Kedar Jadhav also played a brilliant hand and made sure India took the match till the end.

However, the dismissals of both the batsmen in quick intervals were the final nail in the coffin for India. Eventually, Australia completed a rather convincing runs victory in the end to seal the series 3-2. Courtesy his exceptional batting performance in the series, Usman Khawaja was awarded the Player of the Series.

Here is what the southpaw said at the post-match presentation ceremony

It’s a lot of fun scoring hundreds and even more winning games. Very good to come back from 0-2 down, and never easy to beat India at home. I just played depending on the conditions. Our spinners and our batters adapted really well and it was a team performance. Finch batted beautifully, there have been tough wickets and high-scoring ones.

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